Veterinary academic leaders recognized for achievements

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges recognized the 2015 recipients of six awards during its Annual Conference March 13-15 in Washington, D.C.

Leo Holguin (Western University ’16) was awarded the Patricia M. Lowrie Diversity Leadership Scholarship, which recognizes veterinary students who have demonstrated promise as future leaders and have made substantial contributions to enhancing diversity and inclusion in academic veterinary medicine.

Holguin served as the outreach co-chair for the Students of Color and Allies for Outreach, Retention, and Education. The mission of SCORE is to provide a safe place for students on campus, to provide students with the tools needed to navigate the struggles of school, and to educate the campus about relevant issues affecting students of color. SCORE also reaches out to K-12 schools and undergraduate programs to encourage students of color and underrepresented students to choose health careers.

Holguin also serves at the national co-chair for the Broad Spectrum Veterinary Student Association. The association’s mission is to connect, support, and empower community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students and allies across veterinary education.

Dr. K. Paige Carmichael (Tuskegee ’87) was honored with the Iverson Bell Award for her contributions to advancing inclusion and diversity in academic veterinary medicine.

Dr. Carmichael, professor of veterinary pathology at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, also served as the associate dean for academic affairs for eight years at Georgia. She has authored or co-authored several successful grant proposals to address the recruitment of underrepresented groups in academic veterinary medicine.

She created the veterinary college’s Veterinary Career Aptitude and Mentoring Program, which works to recruit young, underrepresented minority students with an aptitude for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She also mentors students and early-career faculty and facilitates the development of student diversity groups.

Dr. Carmichael earned a doctoral degree in pathology from the University of Georgia, where she also completed her residency. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists.

Dr. Lance E. Perryman (Washington State ’70), dean emeritus of the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, was chosen to deliver the Recognition Lecture.

Dr. Perryman served as dean at CSU from 2001-2012. During his tenure, despite state budgetary challenges, the veterinary college achieved increases in extramurally funded research. In addition, he established the DVM/MBA program, which became a model for additional combined degree programs within the veterinary college.

His long history of leadership in veterinary medicine includes service as president of the AAVMC, ACVP, and American Association of Veterinary Immunologists.

Dr. Perryman, who is a diplomate of the ACVP, earned a doctoral degree in comparative biology from Washington State University.

Dr. L. Garry Adams (Texas A&M ’64), a professor at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, received the Senator John Melcher, DVM, Leadership in Public Policy Award.

Dr. Adams has provided leadership on many boards and scientific committees, including ones at the AVMA and the National Academies. He has testified before many congressional hearings that helped shape national policy, including presenting invited testimony for the Congressional House Select Committee’s “Bioshield: Countering the Bioterrorist Threat” panel.

Dr. Adams served as chair of the brucellosis and the tuberculosis scientific advisory committees of the United States Animal Health Association, providing guidance on the scientific basis for implementing rules impacting international trade policies with Mexico and Canada. He also served as the scientific leader of biologic systems research for the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, developing countermeasures against exotic animal diseases that could erode the nation’s food security.

Dr. Patterson is a professor at Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation. He teaches general pathology, neuropathology, and diagnostic pathology to veterinary students in classroom, laboratory, and clerkship settings, and he trains residents in veterinary anatomic pathology. He has a particular interest in neuropathology, which is the focus of his current research on spinal cord disease or dysfunction associated with hind limb ataxia and weakness in Pugs.

Students who contributed to his nomination wrote that “Dr. Patterson’s teaching methods are unanimously loved by all of his students, so much so that his lesson designs have been used as an example of how other teachers should consider presenting material.”

Dr. Patterson is a diplomate of the ACVP.

Dr. Susan VandeWoude (Virginia-Maryland ’86), from the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, was honored with the AAVMC Excellence in Research Award, presented by Zoetis. She received the award for her work on feline immunology and virology, including investigating feline immunodeficiency virus as a model for human disease, examining the molecular nature of the interaction between host and virus, and exploring the larger implications of infectious diseases on wildlife.

Dr. VandeWoude began working at CSU in 1990. She is a professor of comparative medicine in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology and is the veterinary college’s associate dean of research.

She has served as the principal investigator on grants totaling nearly $10 million, most of which came from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, and she has participated in a variety of roles in training grants totaling nearly $6.5 million. Her work has resulted in more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, 200 abstract resentations, and numerous invited lectures.

Dr. VandeWoude completed an NIH postdoctoral residency in the Division of Comparative Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.